Bienvenidos a Oaxaca!

 

Over eastern NM

Oil well pattern

farming in TX

Our first trip abroad since Colombia in January 2020!  We decided on Oaxaca because you can get here from Albuquerque in 7-8 hours and we’ve heard so many good things about it.  It was an easy trip through Houston to the small but well kept Oaxaca airport.  On the flight to Texas I listened to an Ologies podcast on indigenous cooking (cuisinology) while looking at natural versus manmade shapes on the landscape out the plane window.  The flight from Houston over Mexico was cloudy so not until we were descending could I see the mountainous, hazy landscape surrounding the City of Oaxaca.  Hazy due to burning of some fields and possibly some wildfires. 

The main square Sunday night

Our driver had to stop a half block from the hotel because student (high school) protestors are camped out (literally, in tents) on the street in front of the hotel.  There seem to be many current protests and I haven’t figured out what all of them are about. I think the students are protesting to get more teachers in schools and for better opportunities after graduation. The political parties are choosing their state gubernatorial candidates so a rally today with lots of people carrying red flags may have been for the Mexican communist party.  There is a lot of graffiti around town like Eat the Rich People, Not Animals and end violence against women, support for gay rights, free incarcerated journalists.  The protestors seem to be an accepted part of the scene downtown.

Our first night out was really enjoyable.  We just strolled around the Zocalo, the main square, and had dinner at an outdoor café.  Hundreds of people were out dancing in one area, watching a clown in another area, kids running around throwing 4 foot long balloons up in the air and blowing soap bubbles.

Amazingly, people here follow stricter covid standards than we do in the US at this point.  Most people were wearing masks even outdoors and masks are required in shops.  You spritz your hands with disinfectant before entering a restaurant or the markets.  No covid test was required to get in to the country though or proof of vaccination.  On our way back to the US we are required to get a covid test before we can board the plane. 

Agua chile verde ceviche

relaxing at the hotel pool

Following a good night’s sleep and breakfast in the hotel courtyard, we set out to explore downtown further.  The stucco covered buildings are painted bright colors and larger walled buildings are made of a light green volcanic rock.  This seems to be the dry season and many trees are flowering but have no leaves.  Huge agaves and their relatives punctuate local parks (once I get to the botanical garden I hope to be able to say what those relatives are!).  We wandered through two of the markets closer to downtown where you can buy pretty much anything.  Oaxaca is known for moles of course but also for grilled meats served with corn tortillas and your choice of toppings, crispy grasshoppers (chapulines) and many other dishes we are still discovering.  Today’s food highlight was lunch at La Rambla in sort of a small food court.  I had a delicious shrimp ceviche with pureed chiles de agua (the local milder chile somewhat like a poblano) and Jake got a tuna burger with a fried onion ring and buttery roll.  Afterwards we found an ice cream shop (Pandiu) that served rolled ice cream where you could choose your combination of flavors to be made into a soy-based ice cream.  The ice cream helped tame the heat from the ceviche!